Discover Scone

Scone brings together several distinct cultural themes: theatre history, a museum in the former gaol and aviation exhibitions. There are also artworks to experience in different ways. If you like filling a trip with discoveries to share, you’ll find a range of interests here—from a historic building and aircraft to sculptures in public spaces.

Theatre history and a museum in an old gaol

Scone Civic Theatre is of state significance: it is considered the last intact theatre in New South Wales designed by the renowned theatre architects Crick and Furse. This distinction alone gives the theatre a clear place in the town’s cultural history. For visitors interested in architecture and theatre, it is a reason in its own right to get to know Scone better.

The Scone Museum offers a different historical perspective. It is housed in the old gaol building, which was built in 1870. The building itself makes a visit to the museum an encounter with a tangible part of the town’s history. The theatre and the gaol museum appeal to different interests: one is a theatre designed by architects; the other is a historic building that once served as a gaol.

Aircraft, exhibitions and simulators

The Hunter Warbirds Museum offers a very different focus. Its aircraft collection is growing, and interactive exhibitions are also part of what it offers. This means the subject is not just for visitors who want to look at aircraft: the exhibition also offers ways to engage actively with aviation. If you want to take different interests into account when planning your trip, you can include this alongside theatre and local history without conflating the themes.

The museum also has Spitfire and Bristol flight simulators. These two specifically named simulators add a distinctive hands-on element to a visit focused on aviation. For families, it may help to consider when choosing outings to enjoy together whether the focus should be more on historic buildings and theatre or on aircraft and interactive exhibits. These are different ways to discover Scone, and they appeal to different curiosities.

Artworks to view and experience

Elizabeth Park is home to the bronze sculpture Scone Mare and Foal. It was unveiled on 3 March 1982. Visitors can touch the sculpture, climb on it and take photographs. So it is more than something to look at: the explicitly permitted ways of engaging with it make it an artwork visitors can interact with directly. For a visit with children, this offers a different way to experience art than an exhibition where the only activity is looking.

At Big Blue, visitors can walk between the two separate parts of the artwork. Here, too, visitors’ movement is part of how they can experience the sculpture. If you enjoy exploring artworks in different ways, these offer two distinct ways to engage with art.

Getting oriented and taking a break at the museum

The Scone Visitor Information Centre offers tourist information, maps, advice and souvenirs. These are useful if you’d like to find out about local options or pick up a map. Advice and maps complement each other in different ways: a map gives you an overview, while advice gives you the opportunity to ask specific questions.

The Kittyhawk Cafe at the Hunter Warbirds Museum serves fresh food and drinks. It offers panoramic views across the airfield. This brings the museum’s aviation focus together with a café visit and a view of the airfield. Scone’s cultural diversity is reflected both in its range of museum and art themes and in the offerings that complement a visit.

Discover more destination pages

If you’d also like to explore other places, you’ll find more destination pages here: Lidster, Ocean Shores, Evans Head, Palm Grove, Raleigh, Running Stream, Quaama and Mittagong.

For the broader travel overview: New South Wales.